Low Vision Awareness: What’s the Latest Assistive Tech Available?

Posted by AbleNews, By Jeremy Morak, Marketing Manager, Lighthouse Guild

February is Low Vision Awareness Month. Low vision is a permanent loss of vision that cannot be corrected with eyeglasses, contact lenses, medication, or surgery. Living with low vision can impact a person’s ability to read, write, watch television, drive, and even recognize faces. People with low vision may encounter loss of central vision (what you see when looking directly at something), loss of peripheral vision (what you see from the sides of your eyes), problems distinguishing between objects of similar tones (contrast sensitivity), or difficulty judging the position of objects (depth perception).

“The most important thing you can do for your eyes is to get a comprehensive eye exam,” says Dr. Andrea Zimmerman, Low Vision Specialist at Lighthouse Guild. “The three main causes of low vision and blindness in the United States are glaucoma, age-related macular degeneration (AMD), and diabetic eye disease. Only a comprehensive eye exam can detect these diseases in their early stages and help preserve vision.”

For a person who has been diagnosed with low vision as a result of their comprehensive eye exam, finding the right assistive technology can be crucial for coping with low vision and reclaiming independence. With the rapid acceleration of technological improvements for assistive devices, it might be hard to keep up with the most advanced technology available. Recently, Dr. Rebekah Lin, a Low Vision Specialist at Lighthouse Guild, spoke at the American Academy of Optometry’s Annual Conference about the latest updates in low vision technology. Here are a few new devices to check out:

Eye6 by Eyedaptic

These are augmented reality 2-in-1 smart glasses that can function as a wearable and handheld magnifier. The glasses have “EyeSwitch” technology that allows users to switch between a built-in camera and a connected device such as a smartphone. These glasses introduce the use of AI that incorporates interactive text and image analysis. Weighing only three ounces, Eye6 smart glasses are one of the most lightweight options on the wearable technology market.

Envision Glasses

These AI powered glasses can read text, provide information about the user’s surrounding, have facial recognition, make calls, and more. As of October 2024, Envision has updated its software to include smart detection—enabling users to decipher charts, graphs, tables, and non-traditional paragraph formats. Envision is partnering with Meta to create Ally, a conversational AI assistant that utilizes intent recognition to better understand a user’s intent goal and context within any given question or command. This added layer of recognition will help the device provide more accurate descriptions and information.

Hable Easy

This external keyboard connects to a smartphone and is designed for new smartphone users or people who have difficulty with touchscreens. Each button is preprogrammed to do a specific task such as making calls or sending texts. The raised tactile buttons are helpful for people with peripheral neuropathies, and the color coded high-contrast symbols are helpful for users who have difficulty seeing the icons on a phone screen.

These are just a few examples of assistive technology that are enabling people with low vision to better navigate their daily lives. But it’s important to remember that low vision is an umbrella term that encompasses many types of vision impairment, so one device that may be helpful for someone with glaucoma, for instance, might not be as beneficial for someone with macular degeneration. This is why low vision optometrists stress the importance of comprehensive eye exams to learn about a person’s vision condition, lifestyle, and goals which can help pinpoint the right form of assistive technology for each person.